Name Dropping

February 19, 2006

- Sidney Lumet said he overcame snobbery about action heroes to cast Vin Diesel in "Find Me Guilty," which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival. "We're all, and I include myself in this, big snobs about action heroes, we relegate them," Lumet told reporters Thursday. "It's what we used to do with beautiful actresses ... if you're an action hero and a star it means you cannot act -- and all of this despite the fact that we know different." "Find Me Guilty" is one of 19 films competing for the top prize at the festival.

- After an exhaustive search for the perfect lead actor for his feature directing debut, Ben Affleck appears to have found his star within his own family. According to a variety of media reports, Affleck has selected brother Casey Affleck to star in "Gone, Baby, Gone," his adaptation of the Dennis Lehane novel that follows a pair of Boston-area private investigators as they try to find a kidnapped child.

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The Personals page was compiled by Cheryl Bowles from Tribune news services and staff reports.